Roller skate wheel



Dec. 19, 1950 E. G. BLAEs ROLLER SKATE WHEEL Filed May 28, 1946 mw 91V,

.z m mw m T m W WG... ,f M W Patented Dec. 19, 1950 2,534,401 ROLLER sKA'rE WHEEL Edward o. Blaes, st. Albans, N. Y., assignor to Blaes Brothers, Inc., New York, N. Y.,- a corpo- 'ration of New York Application May 28, 1946, Serial No. 672,850

4 Claims.

This invention relates to roller skates and more particularly to roller skate Wheels and has for its object the provision of an improved roller I skate Wheel and an improved light-Weight' roller skate Wheel assembly.

Another object is to provide arnon-skid tire for aroller skate Wheel and a light-Weight roller skate Wheel assembly including the' non-skid tire;

Another object is' to provide a light-:Weight roller skate Wheel' assembly having a durable roller surface of high non-skid properties.

Other'objects will be apparent as the invention is more fully hereinafter dis'closed. w

In accordance'vith these objects T. have disofovered that a roller skate wheel cornprised` of lan'iinatedV Woodv With the Wood grain of the alternate Ianiinations disposed at an angle to each other, the laminated structure'being cut or formed so as to present the lamination edges at theroller surface, provides a Wheel having a d'urability andl noin-skid properties niateriaily higher than possesse'd by any other type rollerv skate Wheel now on the market.

In the art of roller skating, Which'more re'- i cent-'lv has been popirlariz'ed indoors on highly smoothed and p'olished hardWood fioors, it is believed apparent' that in th'eexe'cution of fast turns', junijps and intricate figures, one of the most important properties of a rollr skate Wheel is its non--skid property. Various tv'pesV of Wood ilvheels and composition Wheels have heretofore been pr'opo's'ed;` No Wheel, on the market today; has satisfactory non-skid properties on polished vvoode'nv floorsi The present invention aims' to overcome this defec't in roller skate Wheels, and alsoV aims' to overoome the'weight defect common in most roller skate Wheels and to provide a light:- Weight, non-skid r'o'ller skate wheel.

In the manufacture of a roller skate Wheel, in accord'ane'e With the present invention, there i-s a' wide choice' of `materials available and various modificationsand departures thereof may be made therefrom Without esse'n'tial departure from the'present inve'ntion as one sk-iiled inl the art: Will recognize from" the following disclosnre ofv the specific einbodiments thereof.

In'my invention the ianiinated Wood structure, from which the r'oller Wheelor tire of the present invention isv formed', may be comprised of a plurality of difierenttyp'es o'r'kindsv of Wood'and may be formed, per'se', by a'none of the plurality' tial departure fromvthe present invention inasmuch as, on the roller surface, the desired nonskid property of the Wheel is obtained by the alternate presenting of the side and end of the Wood grain at the roller surface and the desired Wear-resistance property is obtained by employing laminations having a hardness approximating that of the hardwood floor on which the roller is to be used.

In the specific embodiments hereinafter disclosed, hoWever, and in view of the fact that most floors are eomprised of hard maple, I prefer to employ a laminated Wood structure comprised of hard mapie bonded together by a Water-resistant bonding agent and molded to laminated form under high pressure as is customary in the art of forming laminated Wood structures. The particular thickness of the maple Wood laminations employed may vary quite Widely Without essential departure from the present invention, but I have found that laminations having a thickness, after molding, of about 1-1;- inch7 appear to give the best results as far as non-skid properties are concerned, although good results in this respect are obtained With larger and smaller thicknesses of Wood laininations.

Also, in the specic embodiments hereinafter disolosed, I prefer to ntilize the present invention as a roller Wheel tire, to cut down the Weight factor of the Wheel, and to'employ in combination the'reWith a hub, comprised of light-Weight molded plastic material, to the rim of which the tire is secured preferably' by frictionally engaging means, and in the center of which are secured bearings, in which the Wheel axle may be mounted, thereby providing a light-Weight Wheel assembly having a durable, non-skid roller surface.

Before fur'th'er disclosure of the invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings Wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a light-Weight roller skate Wheel oonstructed in accordance With the specification of the prefererd form of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same taken along plane 2--2 of Fig. 1';

Fg. S is an enlarged section illustrating the preferred laminated structure of the tire element of the Wheel assembly of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged staggered sectional vview of the preferred 1iamin'ated structure of Fig'. 3 taken alongl aplan'e at right angles to the plane shown in Fig. 3; i

Fig. 5 is a side view of a mdified form of light*- weight roller skate Wheel conforming to the preferred form of the present invention; and

Fig. 6 is a sectional View of the same taken along plane 6-6 of Fig. 5.

As hereinabove indicated, in the preferred specific embodiment of the present invention and for purposes of reducing the weight factor in roller skate Wheels, I prefer to utilize the laminated Wood structure of the present invention in the form of a tire T, secured to the rim of a light-Weight hub I-I which encloses bearings B-B supporting the Wheel axle A.

Such a combination of elements comprising a roller skate wheel is shown in the drawings in two modified forms, the main difference ltherebetween being that induced or caused by the difference between the two types of bearings B-B and B'-B' shown.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, tire T is shown mounted on the rim periphery of hub H, and bearings B B are shown seated within hub H in a position to axially locate axle A therein With lock-nut N on the outer end of aXle A to secure the wheel assembly in position thereon against inner collar C.

In this assembly, elements A, C, B-B and lt are old and Well known elements and, per se, form no part of the present invention except in combination with elements II and T providing the light-Weight, durable and non-skid roller skate Wheel of the present invention.

Tire T is comprised of laminated Wood, the Wood laminations l-Z' consisting of hard, kilndried mapie and each lamination being of approximately the same thickness approximating '116- inch The Wood grain of the alternate laminations, preferably, lie at an angle of 90 to each other, thereby to present at the wheel surface alter-hate side and end Wood fiber Sections. The Wood laminations Z l' are secured together With a water-resistant adhesive under high pressure, by a process old and Well known in the art, and, per se, forming no part of the present invention.

Hub H is comprised, preferably, of a lightweight molded organic plastic material such as is known in the art as a thermo-plastic methyi methacrylate resin. Various other moldable plastic compositions may be utilized in substitution for this rcsin Without essential departure from the present invention as one skilled in the art Will readily recognize, such as the phenol condensation products, Synthetic resins, etc.

In the forming of tire T, it is preferable to provide first a lazninated Wood structure having the approximate thickness desired for the wheel width., which may vary Widely from 3A inch to 11/; inch depending upon the type skate to which it is to be attached, and having a width and length many times the desired Wheel diameter which also varies with the Wheel width from 2 inches to 21/2 inches, from which laminated structure a plurality of wheel blanks may be cut. From the Wheel blank, the Wheel tire T is turned down in a lathe so that the central opening therein may be accurately centered and the roller surface made concentric thereto.

The inner surface of the central opening is rough machined to provide substantially a burled surface for frictional engagement of the tire With the outer rim or periphery of hub I-I. The outer or roller surface of the tire T is smoothed off to a smooth roller surface as is customary in the art to provide on such roller skate Wheels. Such a smooth laminated surface presents alternate areas of Wood grains of slightly difierent Wearresistant properties With the cross-grain areas being the harder. During service use the crossgrain areas tend to remain somewhat raised over the intermediate along the grain areas, thereby providing an annularly ribbed roller surface giving the desired non-skid property to the roller Wheel.

In substitution for alternate laminations of maple with the grain directions alternately at right angles to each other, alternate layers of `issimilar Woods of similar hardness to that of maple may be employed. It is impractical to emplcy roller skate Wheels comprised of material having a hardness materially greater than the floor material upon which they are normally to be used or to employ Wheels having a hardness materially less than that of the fioor. Either the floor or the Wheel thereby Would be rapidly Worn away. Where Wheel materials of about the same hardness as that of the floor are employed maximum wear-resistance in Wheel and floor is obtained. Under these conditions, it is adequate or scficient to provide a tire tliickness aifording adequate strength With reasonably long life. Such a tire thickness approximates 1/2 inch With the type of laminated material above disclosed.

The manner of mounting bearings B-B, which, per se, are old and Well known in the art, in hub H may be varied Widely Without departure from the present invention, as may be noted in the drawings. In the modification of Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, hub H is formed With a centrally located annular partition p inwardly depending from the center bore passageway therethrough. The diameter of the center bore passageway approximates that of the outside diameter of bearings B B so that the entire assembly of tire T, hub H and bearings B-B may be formed into an integral body by pressing one Within the other, With the burled innersurface of tire T preventing relative movement between the tire T and hub H, and bearings B-B being securely held in position on opposite sides of partition p.

In the arrangement of Fig's. 5 and 6, tire T is secured on hub I-I in substantially the same manner as hereinabove disclosed, but hub H is provided With a different kind of annular partition p' shaped to receive thereagainst a different type of bearings B'-B', one on each side of partition p'. This type of bearing B' B' as Well as the type of bearings B-B, is old, per se, and does not form a part of the present invention except in the combination With the other elements thereof. Bearings B'-B' consist of a raceway plate I, a plurality of ball bearings 2, and an outer raceway plate held in position by nut ll. Bearings B B are the usual type of cage bearings.

In the commercial development and adaptation of the present invention, it is probable that by impregnating relatively soft Wood With synthetic resins, in accordance with known processes, the hardness of such soft Woods may be brought up to that approximating maple. It is also probable that by means of such impregnated Wood, fioor hardnesses may be increased, in which event the hardness of the laminated Wood tires of the present invention must be increased to approximate that of the floor. All such modifications, changes, alterations and departures of the present invention, therefore, are contemplated as may fall Within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is: 1. A roller skate wheel comprising, in combination, a substantially cylindrical hub member consisting of molded Synthetic plastic resin, REFERENCES CITED roller bearing members secured in central axial The following referens are of record m the alignment in said hub member, and an annular file of this patent;

lamnated Wood tire secured to the outer periphery of said hub member, said tire consisting of 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS a plurality of Wood laminations of substantially Number Name Date the sme hardness and thickness adhesively side 320,774 Gardner June 23, 1885 secured together into a unitary body With the 698,110 Foy Apr. 22, 1902 Wood grain iying in a plane transversely per- 1,415,288 Allen May 9, 1922 pendicular to the wheel axis and With the woOd 10 1,500,113 Dade July 8, 1924 gram of each lamination dsposed at an angle to 2,241,684 Ware May 13, 1941 the Wood grain of adjacent laminations.

2. The roller skate wheel of claim 1, said resin FOREIGN PATENTS consisting of methyl-methacrylate resin. Number COuntry Date 3. The roller skate wheel of olaim 1, said Wood 15 22,333 Great Britain 1892 Iaminations consisting of treated Wood of substantially the same hardness and of a hardness approximating that of hard maple.

4. The roiler skate wheel of claim 1, wherein said 'wood laminations consist of hard, kiln-dried 20 maple.

EDWARD G. BLAES. 

